Traditional “stand alone” cartridge filters are typically plugged into a fixed stainless steel housing which is permanently (or semi permanently) mounted to a drug processing line when used in the context of a biotech or pharmaceutical processing.
Recent trends in the drug/biotech industry have shifted toward the use of disposable filter capsules as opposed to the stainless steel systems described above. The use of these disposable filter capsules comes with it the challenge of holding or fixturing the filter capsule during processing.
These disposable, capsule based devices do not fit into the traditional inline or T-line stainless steel holders. They often are simply laid on a bench or a rolling cart and connected to the system by plastic tubing. To prevent their movement, the use of tape or clamps has been employed to temporarily hold them in place. Others have formed wall mounts to hold the capsules in place.
One design is a floor stand comprised of a base, a center pole and one or more brackets at the top of the center pole to hold the capsules in place.
It has several drawbacks. It is capable of holding capsules in a “bell down” position. The inlet and outlet are at the top with the rest of the capsule projecting downwardly. Some capsules are designed to be operated in a “bell up” (inlet and outlet are at the bottom and the rest of the capsule is projected upwardly) position and either do not work in a bell down position or do not work as efficiently in that position.
The design is static and takes up a large amount of floor space, both during use and storage. Lastly, the device has many crevices and hooks which are difficult to keep clean.
What is needed is a simpler, more efficient floor stand for disposable filter capsules.